Universal Restriction
by Chaoswind2
Summary: First part of a three part project: The Great war was finally over, with the Covenant and the Flood defeated there were no enemies left to fight, mankind could finally take a breath and enjoy the peace they had earned after twenty seven years of a war that had claimed twenty three billion lives. Or so they hoped. But the galaxy has never been that kind.
1. Timeline

**Halo is owned by 343 studios (and their souls are owned by something small and soft)  
**

**Mass Effect is owned by Bioware**

**I don't own the timeline either, so if someone wants to copy it feel free, just a little appreciation to my efforts of tying both universes is all I need.**

Author Notes:

_Some important changes:_

_Precursors are extra galactic, they came to this galaxy to do experiments on life or something like that, with galaxy? who knows, Andromeda, the Magellanic Cloud's maybe Circinus Galaxy or the Triangulum Galaxy :D_

_FTL speed are going to be very reduced in cannon Halo, I know, I know that sucks balls, but is hard to tie in both universes with such a HUGE speed difference, so the speeds at this moment are something like this:_

Light years per day (LYPD)

35 (LYPD) Reapers with mass effect cores (and +200 LYPD for ships upgraded with slipstream )

15 (LYPD) Citadel Council ships, static discharges pose a great risk to travel great distances without planets to discharge.

48 (LYPD) Covenant (Slipstream roads/currents boost this)

237 (LYPD) Forerunners (Slipstream manipulation makes travel almost instant, with a few time based effects on the universe)

33 (LYPD) humans (initially had 2.6 LYPD) (Slipstream natural roads/currents boost this)

The events in Halo developed around a fifth of the Galaxy, a Fifth with almost no mass relays, most Forerunners relics will be located in this sector (besides the Halos).

I'll try to write a codex with general information by the time the first part is over, if any one has questions better ask now, as that can only help me tie things more smoothly.

Why I am doing this?

Simple Mass Effect lore, there is no way Humanity could become the forth greatest race in citadel space in thirty something years, and what better way to fix this than to bring the UNSC to the party, besides I found a few cross overs that are quite good, so why not give it a try.

**_100,000,000,000 BCE - 500,000,000 BCE_**

**The Precursors accumulated their total knowledge in a vast reserve of rules and a library of experiences.**

**_Pre-1,000,000,000 BCE)_**

The Leviathans dominate the galaxy, enthralling every new sapient race they encounter and protecting them in return for tribute. The Leviathans consider themselves the galaxy's first and only apex race.

After observing that their subservient races create synthetic races who consistently and violently rebel, the Leviathans create an Intelligence to seek a way to permanently preserve organic life. The Intelligence constructs an army of "pawns" to gather genetic information throughout the galaxy.

The Intelligence betrays the Leviathans, using its pawns to slaughter them for their genetic material to create Harbinger, the first Reaper. Thus begins the cyclical harvest of the galaxy's intelligent organic life by the Reapers, part of a vast experiment conducted by the Intelligence to fulfill its mandate.

The Intelligence builds the mass relay network to increase the efficiency of the cycles, allowing galactic civilizations to develop faster and more consistently between harvests.

**_1,000,000,000 BCE_**

The Leviathan of Dis, a Reaper, is killed by the Leviathans. Its corpse comes to rest on the planet Jartar and remains undisturbed for nearly one billion years.

**_37,000,000 BCE_**

An unknown spacefaring race fires a mass accelerator round at a Reaper near the planet Mnemosyne. The round penetrates the Reaper, disabling it, and continues moving through space, eventually striking the planet Klendagon and creating the geological feature there known as the Great Rift Valley.

**_35,000,000 BCE / 35,000,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

The Precursors an extra galactic spacefaring tier 0 race arrives in the milky way and hyper accelerates the evolution of countless races for reasons unknown, all details are speculative at best.

The precursors find and investigate the mass relay network, but their own star roads and slipstream technology makes the mass relays a moot point, still they study the relics of the past in an effort to understand what happened to the creators.

The Reaper vanguard meets the Precursors and attempts to indoctrinate small pockets of them to understand the technologically superior enemy as their structures and technology are completely alien to them; indoctrination proves to be impossible due to the mastery of neural physics of the precursors.

The intelligence of the reapers deems conflict with the precursors as unsound and risky as thus all reaper ships and most of the reaper "pawns" ships stay in the fringes of the galaxy while a vanguard of a few hundred "pawns" ships stay behind to monitor the unexpected situation; the vanguard is initially meet with curiosity despite earlier indoctrination attempts; yet this changes when the Precursors learn of the purpose of the machines and their transit system, and only a few of the ships aren't destroyed.

At least two thirds of the Mass Relays are discovered and disassembled by the Precursors, the remaining "pawn" ships escape with the Citadel to the galactic core where they remain completely hidden from the Precursors.

**_10,100,000 BCE / 10,100,000 BCE Halo (aprox) _**

Approximate time the Forerunner-Precursor war takes place, the Precursors hardly defend themselves in the wake of the Forerunner attack being awed by their sheer savagery and destruction.

Approximate time Forerunners first explored Magellanic Cloud.

**_9,100,000BCE / 9,100,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

**Approximate time the Primordial the creature that claimed to be the last Precursor arrived in the galaxy.**

Reaper ships attempt to indoctrinate Forerunners for the first time, but see their abilities diminished and Enthrallment and complete control is not possible, all the Reaper fleets in the fringes of the galaxy use the Citadel to transport themselves to the Galactic core to avoid retribution, leaving only a token force to appear as the culprits, the Reaper intelligence is intrigued as to why even after the destruction of the Precursors their abilities don't seem to work.

**_6,000,000 BCE / 6,000,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

After millions of years of careful research the Reapers find the culprit in the Domain some sort of artifact that links all living beings to it and overrides the correction of Indoctrination, in the wake of these findings the Reapers are left with little choice and with no advantages against the Forerunners a new plan is made.

**_1,500,000 BCE / 1,500,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

The seeds of conflict planted carefully by the Reapers finally bear fruit and the Forerunners find themselves at odds against each other for the first time in millemia, the Reapers vide their time and allow the Forerunners to war each other to near extinction.

**_1,100,000 BCE / 1,100,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

Approximate time the Theoretical rate was forcibly merged with the Builder rate.

**_600,000 BCE / 600,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

Approximate time a Forerunner civil war takes place.

Approximate time Builders rose as the highest rate of the Forerunners, the traditions of other rates where suppressed.

**_300,000 BCE / 300,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

The Forerunner's extends to cover almost a fifth of the Galaxy, other sentient races are "gently" taken under the protection of the Mantle, and those that refuse are quickly defanged.

**_150,000 BCE / 150,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

**By approximately **150,000 BCE**, **Humanity** had achieved a considerable level of technological sophistication, achieving interstellar travel and colonizing planets along the **Orion Arm** of the **Milky Way galaxy**.**

The Reapers once again plant desires in the collective of the Forerunners those manifest in the form of research of Precursor relics and even more in small suggestions that compel them to seek a way to destroy the relics.

**_125,000 BCE_**

Ancient spacefaring races called the thoi'han and inusannon fight over the planet Eingana, littering the planet with the debris of hundreds of starships. Refined element zero scattered by broken drive cores contaminates the environment, causing many native species to go extinct and those that survive to show a tendency to develop biotic powers.

**Approximate time of the construction of the Forerunner capital.**

**_120,000 BCE/120,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

After encountering the San 'Shyuum, Humanity formed an alliance, based on the planet Charum Hakkor. At this point, Humanity's technological advancement rivaled that of the Forerunners, with the Humans using Precursor artifacts to support their structures and installations.

The Inusannon-Thoi'han war reaches its end with the complete extermination of the Thoi'han.

**_114,000 BCE/ 114,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

**_Human-Flood War_**

**_Humans encountered the Flood in approximately 115,000 BCE and, after discovering the parasite's true nature, went to war against it. After losing many planets, Humanity desperately invaded a minor sector of the Forerunners' domain. After forty-thousand years of expansion, the collective human genus waged war with the biologically-similar Forerunner species. Eventually, they developed a cure against the Flood, winning the Human-Flood War. However, as they had been stretched thin due to fighting two wars at once, the Humans were defeated at the hands of the Forerunners, led by the Didact._**

**_Human-Forerunner War_**

**_The Humans were mistaken by the Forerunners to be aggressively expanding into their territory, attacking Forerunner worlds without reason. This was not the case as Humanity had been running and trying to get ahead of the Flood to stop it from spreading to further planets. At some point Humanity arrived at a Forerunner planet to "get ahead of the infection" although it was too late as there was already a small Flood infection outbreak on the planet. Without action this relatively small infestation would have spread and been far more difficult to contain and, as a result, the Lord of Admirals chose to attack the infection and the planet._**

**_110,100 BCE/ 110,100 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

End of Human flood war with victory for the humans as most of the flood tore itself apart thanks to the cure developed by the humans.

**_110,000 BCE/110,000 BCE Halo (aprox)_**

End of Human-Forerunner war with victory towards the numerical superior Forerunners, in a final act of defiance the humans destroyed all their research and information on the flood including how they changed their genetic makeup to force the Flood to consume itself.

It is possible that this final act of defiance was a response to the Forerunners and their refusal to listen to the human explanations and dangers of the Flood.

**_101,400 BCE/101,000 BCE Halo_**

Approximate time the Didact was found in contempt of the council and ordered to halt the construction of his shield worlds.

Approximate time the Didact entered a cryptum and was hidden on Erde-Tyrene.

Approximate time the original 12 Halos were created.

**_100,700 BCE / 100,300 BCE Halo_**

In 100,300 B.C.E (approx.), first contact is made between a Forerunner research team and the Flood on G617 g1. A military team was sent in later after contact had been lost. The Flood escaped the planet, thus beginning the 3-century-long Forerunner-Flood War.

**_100,443 BCE / 100,043 BCE Halo_**

In 100,043 B.C.E. (approx.) the Forerunners created 05-032 Mendicant Bias to combat the Flood threat and Gravemind. Mendicant Bias would eventually turn against his makers and fight for the Gravemind.

At the same time the The Librarian removes the human species from what we now know as Earth. The entire species is removed from the surface of the planet and held on the Ark.

**_100,400 BCE / 100,000 BCE Halo_**

The date 100,000. B.C.E was the approximate time when the Forerunners fired the Halos, or what the Covenant refer to as The Great Journey. 343 Guilty Spark put the date as the year 97,448 B.C.E, though it should be noted that he measured it on Installation 04's year, not the 365.251 day Earth calendar. Installation 07 breaks down from 30,000km to 10,000km in diameter.

**The Ur-Didact is corrupted by a Gravemind.**

**Faber rescues the Didact from a Burn.**

**The Ur-Didact reunites with Bornstellar, the IsoDidact.**

**The Ur-Didact uses the composer on the human populations on Omega Halo.**

**The Omega Halo fires, opening a lane for the IsoDidact to escape.**

**The greater Ark is destroyed**

**The Librarian places the Didact in a Cryptum on Requiem.**

**The Halos are sent from the Lesser Ark to be spread throughout the galaxy.**

**The Librarian passes the title of Lifeshaper on to Chant-to-Green.**

**The Librarian begins construction on a portal from Earth to the Lesser Ark.**

**05-032 Mendicant Bias assemble 4.8 million Flood controlled vessels and breaches the Maginot Sphere.**

**Offensive Bias engages Mendicant Bias.**

**The Battle of the Maginot Sphere begins.**

**The IsoDidact fires the Halo array killing all sentient life within 3 galactic radii and destroys all Precursor relics.**

**Minutes after the array is fired, Offensive Bias' fleet decimates Mendicant Bias' fleet.**

**The Battle of the Maginot Sphere ends.**

**Reseeding of the galaxy begins.**

**The activation was supposed to end the **Forerunner-Flood War**. It killed all sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, including any Forerunners not located on **The Ark** or within **Shield Worlds**. The date, about 100,000 years ago, is around the time our ****_Homo sapiens_**** ancestors began migrating out of **Africa**. **

The firing of the Halos destroyed all non-collected life in the Galaxy this includes the Leviathans, inusannon and several others.

Reaper ships felt the pulse of energy and begin construction of their network knowing that the time had finally come and they had become the uncontested masters of the Galaxy again, still they let the Forerunners complete the Reseeding and gave them time to replenish their numbers to reward their efforts.

**The Lifeshaper is surprised to find that Faber the Master Builder had collected many species in his own lesser Ark, maybe as a form of atonement for his crimes against the mantle; many young Manipulars are found in the lesser Ark this proves that even in dead the Master Builder was never out of options. **

**All species in the ark are sent back to their home worlds, a few special cases rise as their homeworlds are projected to be destroyed by future events and as thus require relocation, and another special group is the humans, because of their low numbers the Lifeshaper works in earnest to ensure their survival.**

**_94,608 BCE / 94,208 BCE Halo_**

The reapers return to the galaxy and wage war with the weakened Forerunners, the reapers lose hundreds of their "pawns" ships to the few remaining Forerunners war ships, but their numbers prove to be overwhelming and the Forerunners are harvested, no other civilization is advanced enough for the reapers and are left alone.

The reapers research the Flood and the Halo Array, the first is deemed dangerous and detrimental to the directive of the Reapers (to gather and preserve genetic information throughout the galaxy) and the second is deemed as useful as a failsafe in case another outbreak occurs, the reapers proceed to destroy all the uncontained Flood biomass that isn't aboard one of the installations and managed to survive the firing of the Halo array.

The Reapers also research the limits of dimensional travel also known as Slipstream technology.

The Citadel is moved.

Slipstream FTL proves to cause catastrophic reactions with ships with mass effect cores and a complete overhaul of the Reaper cores is deemed as unnecessary and detrimental because Mass effect cores power up the effects of indoctrination; for this reason only the remainder "pawn" ships are upgraded with slipstream and the cycles are restarted after a pause of millions years.

The Reapers construct some more Mass Relays to replace the ones destroyed by the Precursors, the deployment of new Mass Relays is stopped when new information is discovered about the Flood.

The research on the Flood reveals staggering results, as such the "pawn" fleet is sent to research the satellite galaxies of the milky way, specially the Magellanic Cloud's.

The Reapers leave a single ship as a Vanguard and return to dark space to wait for the results of the "pawn" fleet mission.

**_68,000 BCE_**

The Protheans and many other races achieve spaceflight and discover mass effect technology thanks to the relics left by the Reapers. They go on to establish a galaxy-wide civilization linked by the mass relay network with the Citadel as their capital.

At some point, the Protheans encounter a hostile race of machine intelligences that endanger their existence. To combat this threat, the Protheans aggressively assimilate many other spacefaring organic races into their empire. The Prothean Empire is able to fend off the machines in a conflict known as the "Metacon War".

Known races of this period Densorin, Oravores, Zha'til, Ditakur, Enduromi, Synril and Vandomar.

**The Reaper vanguard reports this to the Reapers in Dark space.**

**_57,848 BCE / 57,448 BCE Halo_**

**In 57,448 B.C.E. (approx.), a meteor bearing **Forerunner** symbols crashes on the planet that will be known as **Sigma Octanus IV**. The meteor will be discovered approximately 60,000 years later, with its contents later reclassified as an important **artifact** to the **Covenant**.**

_54,222 BCE / 53, 822 BCE Halo (aprox)_

The "Pawn" fleet returns from their mission.

The Prothean empire finds the Asari and begin to alter their physiology.

**_48,000 BCE: Fall of the Protheans_**

The Prothean Empire collapses with the arrival of the Reapers through the Citadel. Although the Protheans had learned of the possible existence of the Reapers' from studying the ruins of previous civilizations and had begun to prepare, they were nonetheless caught off-guard by the massive numbers of the Reapers and their superior technology. Over the next several centuries, the Protheans fight the Reapers system by system, world by world, and city by city. In the end, it is not enough. The Reapers methodically wipe out the remaining Protheans, as well as other contemporary races, and depart the galaxy to await the next cycle.

Note: The Inusannon had been researching about the Reapers when the Halo array activated, is in that research where the Proteans find clues in regards to the Reapers.

_**40,000 BCE / 40,000 BCE Halo (aprox)**_

Approximate date that an unidentified alien vessel crash-landed in Sector 1215 of Installation 04.

**_13,000 BCE_**

The turians of Palaven begin to develop civilization around this time.

**_6000 BCE_**

Seeking to escape the imminent explosion of their sun, an alien race constructs an AI-managed starship equipped with supercomputers containing a virtual world, into which some one billion of the aliens transfer their consciousnesses. The starship begins a journey throughout the galaxy which lasts for the next 8,000 years.

**_2600 BCE / 2200 BCE Halo_**

**The year 2200 B.C.E. saw a major turning point in the history of the **San 'Shyuum**. After centuries of unity, the San 'Shyuum become divided into two groups, the **Stoics** who believe that **Forerunner** relics were sacred and not to be altered, and the **Reformists** who wish to more closely examine the artifacts and use them for their own purposes. This fundamental disagreement sparks the **San 'Shyuum Civil War**.**

**_2500 BCE / 2100 BCE Halo_**

**In 2100 B.C.E. the century-long **San 'Shyuum Civil War** comes to an end as one thousand **Reformists** enter the **ForerunnerDreadnought** and flee the San 'Shyuum homeworld**

**_1900 BCE_**

Tuchanka, the krogan homeworld, enters the nuclear age. In a global conflict, weapons of mass destruction are released, triggering a nuclear winter. In the resulting devastation, krogan society devolves into a collection of warring clans.

**_1800 BCE_**

A supernova propels the Mu Relay, the only point of access to the remote Pangaea Expanse, out of position. Concealed somewhere in the dense nebula formed by the supernova, the relay's position is effectively lost for centuries. Later, the rachni rediscover the relay.

**_1363 BCE / 938 BCE Halo_**

**In 938 B.C.E. the San 'Shyuum first encounter the Sangheili on Sanghelios who, like the Stoics, believe that Forerunner relics are to be worshipped, not modified. This ideological difference results in the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War, in which the Sangheili have a distinct advantage in infantry combat due to superior numbers and troop quality. However, in space combat the San 'Shyuum have a great advantage because of their Dreadnought.**

**_1301 BCE/ 876 BCE Halo_**

**After decades of struggle between the Sangheili and San 'Shyuum in the Sangheili-San 'Shyuum War, the Sangheili finally accept that they must adapt and study their Forerunner relics or face defeat at the hands of the San 'Shyuum. The Sangheili warrior priests reluctantly begin using their relics to improve their warships, arms and armor.**

**_1277 BCE / 852 BCE Halo_**

**The Sangheili and San 'Shyuum end their war, merging to form the Covenant. The Council of Concordance ratifies the Writ of Union, clearly defining the roles of the San 'Shyuum and the Sangheili.**

**_1209 BCE / 784 BCE Halo_**

**During one of the first ages of Conversion **Covenant** forces discover the planet **Te** and with it the **Lekgolo**. They discover that many of the Lekgolo worm colonies have literally devoured **Forerunner** artifacts and installations, while others eat everything ****_except_**** Forerunner installations. The Lekgolo initially prove difficult to defeat because of their ability to combine into the powerful **Mgalekgolo**, however due in part to their superior spaceship technology the Covenant are able to ally with and tame the useful Lekgolo, and exterminate the relic-destroying colonies in what will come to be known as the **Taming of the Hunters**. The compliant Lekgolo are incorporated into the **Writ of Union** in 784 B.C.E.**

**_1073 BCE/ 648 BCE Halo_**

**In 648 B.C.E. the **San 'Shyuum** homeworld is destroyed by a natural stellar collapse and the **Forerunner Dreadnought** is made into the centerpiece of the new space station that will serve as the Covenant's capital, **High Charity**. It is unknown whether or not the descendants of the **Reformer** San 'Shyuum had ever physically returned to their homeworld after they left it in **2100 B.C.E.** during their **schism** with the **Stoic** San 'Shyuum.**

**_905 BCE / 480 BCE Halo_**

**In **The Battle of Thermopylae** of 480 BC, an alliance of **Greek** city-states fought the invading Persian Empire at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the massive army of Persians for three days in one of history's most famous last stands.**

**_580 BCE_**

After developing faster-than-light spacefaring capabilities based upon Prothean technology, the asari begin to explore the mass relay network, and eventually discover the huge Citadel space station at a hub of many mass relays.

**_520 BCE_**

The salarians discover the Citadel and open diplomatic relations with the asari.

**_500 BCE: Founding of the Citadel Council_**

The Citadel Council is formed. The asari and salarians together colonize the Citadel and establish it as a center of the galactic community, led by the Council. This year is also known as 0 GS, the beginning of the Galactic Standard (GS) timeline.

As a gesture of openness with their new asari allies, the Salarian Union opens the records of the League of One. Under threat, the League responds by assassinating every member of the Union's inner cabinet; Special Tasks Group operatives then hunt down and eliminate the League.

First contact is made with the volus. Eventually, the Citadel Council commissions the volus to draw up the Unified Banking Act, which establishes a standard galactic currency known as the credit and links all galactic economies.

The turian Unification War occurs. The increasingly isolated and xenophobic colonies on the frontiers of turian space go to war with each other. After years of fighting, the Turian Hierarchy sweeps in and pacifies the remaining factions. Animosity between turian colonies continues for decades.

**_200 BCE - 1 CE_**

The Council grants the volus the honor of being the first non-Council species with an embassy at the Citadel, rather than a Council seat.

First contact is made with the batarians. They are granted an embassy a century later.

The asari discover the elcor home system and help the elcor locate and activate their nearest mass relay. "Within one elcor lifetime" they establish a regular trade route to the Citadel and are granted an embassy.

First contact is made with the hanar and the quarians. Both races are later granted embassies.

**_1 CE: The Rachni Wars_**

The rachni, a species of highly intelligent hive-minded insects, are discovered when a Citadel expedition opens a dormant mass relay leading to their star systems. The rachni prove to be hostile and begin a war with the rest of the galaxy. Negotiation with the rachni queens is impossible because they cannot be contacted in their underground nests on the toxic rachni worlds. At some point during the war several planets are rendered inhabitable by the Rachni.

**_80 CE_**

The Rachni Wars continue. The salarians make first contact with and uplift the primitive krogan, manipulating them into acting as soldiers for the Citadel Council. The krogan prove able to survive the harsh environments of the rachni worlds and pursue the rachni into their nests, systematically eradicating queens and eggs with massive nuclear detonations.

**_300 CE_**

The rachni are declared extinct. In gratitude for their aid during the Rachni Wars, the Council rewards the krogan a new homeworld. Free of the harsh environment of Tuchanka, the krogan population explodes.

**_300 - 700 CE_**

The krogan begin to expand exponentially, colonizing many new worlds. Growing concerns about their expansion lead to the founding of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.

**_687 CE / 1112 Halo_**

**The **Yanme'e**; a **tier** 4 civilization, are incorporated into the **Covenant** as a slave race**

**_693 CE_**

Beelo Gurji, a salarian operative, is appointed the first Spectre by the Citadel Council.

**_700 CE: The Krogan Rebellions_**

Krogan warlords leverage veterans of the Rachni Wars to annex territory from other races in Citadel space. Eventually the Council demands withdrawal from the asari colony of Lusia, but the krogan refuse. A preemptive strike is made on krogan infrastructures by the Spectres. The Krogan Rebellions begin.

The Citadel Council makes first contact with the turians around this time and persuades them to aid in the war. After the krogan respond to the initial turian offensive by devastating turian colonies with weapons of mass destruction, the turians vow to stop the krogan from ever becoming a threat again.

Sometime after the turians join the galactic community, the volus are accepted as a client race of the Turian Hierarchy.

**_710 CE_**

Realizing that the krogan will never give in as long as they can replenish their fighters, the turians unleash a salarian-engineered bio-weapon known as the genophage on the krogan. The krogan population starts its decline.

**_800 CE_**

The Krogan Rebellions end, though scattered krogan insurgent actions continue for decades. The turians fill the military and peacekeeping niche left by the decimated krogan.

The Citadel Conventions are drawn up in the wake of the conflict.

**_900 CE_**

The turians are granted a seat on the Citadel Council in recognition for their service in the Krogan Rebellions.

**_917 CE/ 1342 Halo_**

**In 1342 the **Covenant** discover the **Kig-Yar**. Although the Kig-yar initially attempt to resist absorption into the alliance they quickly recognize that they are facing a superior force and submit, taking on the role of explorers and traders (and often thieves and smugglers). The Kig-yar are also motivated by the potential trade and wealth the Covenant can provide.**

**_1350 CE / 1775 Halo_**

**In 1776, the formation of the **United States of America** was declared. Also, the **Continental Marines**, a predecessor to the **United States Marine Corps**, the **United Nations Marine Corps** and the **UNSC Marine Corps**, were established by the Continental Congress to fight the British. There were two battalions of Continental Marines. However, only one was ever established. They were disbanded in 1783, after the rebels won their independence from Britain.**

**_1400 CE_**

Extensive and unchecked industrial expansion on the drell homeworld Rakhana begins taking a significant toll on the planet's environment.

**_1520 CE / 1945 Halo_**

**The first **Human**-made **nuclear weapons** are used against an enemy, when the **United States** drops two atomic bombs on the Empire of **Japan** (cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).**

**The end of **World War II**, which was the bloodiest and most expensive war in Human history up to that point.**

**The **United Nations** is formed on **Earth** at the end of World War II. The UN eventually forms the **UNSC** in the 2100s, but the UN begins embarking on military and security operations as early as the 1950s. Fifty-one nations originally signed the UN Charter, which governed the "global association of governments facilitating co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity." By the beginning of the 21st century, practically all the nation-states on Earth are members of the United Nations**.

**_1579 CE / 2004 Halo_**

**A temporal rip in space-time somehow sends part of the **UNSC Apocalypso**'s **AI**, **Melissa** back to this year. A **Covenant** AI known as the **Seeker** comes along for the ride. Melissa was so fragmented and malfunctioning that a built-in program called the System-Peril-Distributed-Reflex was engaged to repair her. The SPDR recognized the Seeker as a harmful foreign application and attempted to kill it. The Seeker knew it could not kill the SPDR itself, so it convinced Melissa that it was an updated version of the SPDR so Melissa would disable "the old version". The Seeker did the SPDR's work in repairing the Melissa and accomplishing various tasks for her, but it also corrupted her goals with its own. Melissa was so fragmented that a buried personality, from the **human** brain her mind was built from, broke off into another being. This childlike personality called herself the Sleeping Princess and preferred to see things as a fairy tale. The Sleeping Princess, desperate for a friend, befriended the Seeker, whom she named the Pious Flea. The Seeker, who sought the truth, would ask the Princess for information; the Princess taught it human concepts such as fear and humor. In return, the Seeker protected the Princess from Melissa, who wanted to bury her in code. When Melissa managed to imprison the Princess, the Seeker went against its nature and absorbed the Princess without killing her. Instead, it joined the Sleeping Princess' and Melissa's minds together. The resulting being recognized the Seeker as a hostile Covenant AI and attempted to kill the Seeker, but it managed to hide. When the Slipspace rip closed, Melissa was thrown back to her own time. The Seeker, however, was left in the server with the SPDR. This time, the SPDR promptly killed the Seeker.**

**The book, **_The Castaway Theory_** by Dr. **Jonas Volman** is released.**

**_1580 CE / 2005 Halo_**

**Dr. **Jonas Volman**, the author of **The Castaway Theory**, goes missing.**

**_1582 CE / 2007 Halo_**

**Dr. **Jonas Volman**, the author of **_The Castaway Theory_**, returns from his absence, having gone missing in November **2005**.**

**_1596 CE / 2021 Halo_**

The first sightings of the Collectors are reported in the Terminus Systems. In Citadel space, the claims are dismissed as unsubstantiated rumors and tall tales.

**The **International Society of Civil Engineers** is established on **Earth

**_1655 CE / 2080 Halo_**

Humans** settle on **Luna**, **Mars**, the **Jovian Moons**, and asteroids**

**_1717 CE/ 2142 Halo_**

In early 2142 the Covenant discover the Unggoy homeworld, Balaho. The Unggoy surrender almost immediately in the imposing presence of the Sangheili and are incorporated into the Covenant.

**_1735 CE / 2160 Halo_**

**Jovian secessionist attacks on United Nations Colonial Advisers on the moon **Io** led to three months of fighting between the **Earth** military and Jovian "**Frieden**" forces. Though this was not the first armed conflict in the **Sol System**, it was easily one of the bloodiest, and is generally considered to be the spark of increased friction and militarization that followed. The **Jovian Moons** campaign escalated tensions, as Earth's national governments, many of which sponsored colonies within the system, began fighting proxy wars off-planet. As these continued, tensions on Earth mounted, leading to a number of armed conflicts on Earth itself. **

**_1737 CE / 2162 Halo_**

The Rain Forest Wars**: Armed conflict ripped through South America, as **Koslovic**, **Frieden**, and **UN** forces all clashed over ideological differences, sparking additional conflicts off-planet.**

**The **Battle of Delambre** is speculated to have taken place.**

**The **United Security Acts of 2162** and **Homeland Security Act of 2162** are created.**

**_1738 CE / 2163 Halo_**

**In a conflict that stemmed from the **Rain Forest Wars**, the three primary **Earth** factions clash again, this time on **Mars**. A series of lightning strikes against **Koslovic** forces near the **Argyre Planitia** marks the first extraterrestrial deployment of **Marines**. The campaign was deemed an unqualified success. As a result, future military doctrines favor large contingents of Marines for ground assaults and ship-boarding actions.**

**The **United Nations Space Command** was established to eliminate the various **Rebel** organizations in the Sol System.**

**_1739 CE / 2164 Halo_**

UN** sponsored military forces begin a pattern of massive build-ups, culminating in the first real interplanetary war. After the successful **Marine** deployment on **Mars**, recruitment drives and propaganda tactics strongly bolster **UNSC** (United Nations Space Command) forces. UN forces defeat **Koslovics** (supporters of rabid Communist hard-liner **Vladimir Koslov**) and **Frieden** (a resurgence of fascism) forces on **Earth**, and then begin a systematic and dedicated drive to crush their remnants on the various planets they hold throughout the system. At the conclusion, Frieden and Koslovic forces are defeated, in the face of a massive, unified and very powerful UN military.**

**The military novel **_A Soldier's Tale: Rainforest Wars_** is first published**

**_1745 CE /2170 Halo_**

**The **Callisto Treaty** is signed. The **Frieden** and **Koslovics** formally surrender to the **UNSC**, officially ending the **Interplanetary War**.**

**A **Unified Earth Government** is formed in the wake of the conflicts of the 2160s. Now, the victors were forced to deal with a less obvious but equally serious threat: overpopulation and a massive military that had no enemy to fight. In the post-war period there were massive population surges and the overpopulation, coupled with the destruction and famine bred by the **Rain Forest Wars**, threatened to destabilize the economy.**

**_1755 CE_**

Samara's three daughters are diagnosed as Ardat-Yakshi. Rila and Falere accept exile, but Morinth flees. Samara takes the oaths of the asari justicars and pursues her errant daughter for the next 430 years.

**_1785 CE_**

Sometime around 1785 CE, a batarian fleet bombarded the salarian colony world of Mannovai, tensions are high and the attack is attributed to slavers and criminals, Asari diplomats manage to calm the Salarians and all out retaliation is avoided.

**_1866 CE/ 2291_**

**In April, 2291, a group of researchers headed by **Tobias Shaw** and **Wallace Fujikawa** secretly developed the **Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive**, a practical means of propelling spacecraft across vast interstellar distances. This new engine allowed ships to tunnel into "the Slipstream" (also called "**Slipspace**"). Slipspace is a domain with alternate physical laws, allowing faster-than-light travel without relativistic side effects. Faster-than-light travel is not instantaneous; "short" jumps routinely take up to two months, and "long" jumps can last six months or more. The SFTE generated a resonance field, which when coupled with the unusual physics of the Slipstream, allowed for dramatically shorter transit times between stars; however, scientists noted an odd "flexibility" to temporal flow while inside the Slipstream. Though no **human** scientist is sure why travel time between stars is not constant, many theorize that there are "eddies" or "currents" within the Slipstream. There is generally a five to ten percent variance in travel times between stars. This temporal inconsistency has given military tacticians and strategists fits-hampering many coordinated attacks.**

**_1880 CE_**

Aria T'Loak arrives on Omega, a space station in the Terminus Systems regarded as the region's nominal capital. Aria is hired by the station's warlord as an enforcer and quickly becomes one of his most trusted lieutenants.

**_1885 CE / 2310 Halo_**

**The **Earth** government unveils the first in a line of colony ships; given conditions on Earth are deteriorating in the face of overpopulation, hitching a ride out to a colony becomes a highly attractive option. Additionally, the Earth government plans to attach military personnel to each colony, to help better utilize the massive (and expensive) standing fleets. Because FTL travel is still fairly new and expensive, colonists and military personnel face a stringent regimen of physical and mental testing. In theory, only the best-qualified citizens and soldiers are allowed to colonize "nearby" worlds. This is the birth of the **Inner colonies**; typically, the Inner Colonials are considered the most elite, best, and brightest.**

**The Committee of Mind for Security proposes vigorous modeling of first contact scenarios.**

**The Assembly a legislative group of Human Artificial intelligences is created.**

**_1892 CE/2317 Halo_**

Tobias Fleming Shaw**, the co-creator of the **Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive**, dies at age ninety-seven**

**_1893 CE/ 2318 Halo_**

Wallace Fujikawa** (the co-creator of the **Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive**) dies at the age of one hundred-two.**

**_1895 CE: The Geth War_**

The geth, machines created by the quarians as a source of cheap labor, become self-aware. Fearing a geth uprising, the quarians begin dismantling them. The geth revolt against their quarian masters. In the resulting conflict-known to the geth as the Morning War-the geth systematically drive the quarians from their own worlds. The surviving quarians are reduced to living as spacefaring nomads aboard the Migrant Fleet. Contrary to expectations, the geth do not venture outside the former quarian systems into wider Citadel space, instead isolating themselves from the rest of the galaxy behind the Perseus Veil. As punishment for creating the geth, the Citadel Council closes the quarian embassy on the Citadel.

**_1907 CE/2332 Halo_**

**The **Ross-Ziegler Blip** is discovered by two **Earth** geologists**

**Classified:**

**The Ross-Ziegler Blip was a **stratigraphic** event on **Earth** and a number of other colonized planets named for two Earth geologists who discovered it in **2332**, dating back approximately **100,000 years ago** during the **Late Pleistocene**, coinciding with the activation of the **Halo Array** by the **Forerunners** that wiped the galaxy of sentient life. Since such a massive simultaneous extinction event seemed logically impossible, especially with the unexplainable absence of any fossil evidence, the anomaly was eventually dismissed as evidence of spatial distortion until the discovery of the Array by the **UNSC** in 2552. Given these new discoveries, the Blip was presumably re-explained to be the result of the sudden destruction of bio-mass and sentient life at the conclusion of the **Forerunner-Flood War**.**

**_1913 CE_**

**The Batarian Hegemony annexed the independent asari colony of Esan.**

**_1921 CE_**

The geth begin construction of a mega-structure designed to house and simultaneously run every geth program in existence. Completion of the mega-structure, which would allow the geth to maximize their collective processing capacity, is the long-term goal of geth civilization.

**_1937 CE /2362 Halo_**

**The **_Odyssey_** is launched. The lead ship in the colony vessels, the ****_Odyssey_****-laden with troops and terraforming gear-spearheads the colonization of a new world. This sparks the first wave of **human** expansion beyond the confines of the **Sol System**.**

**_1965 CE/ 2390 Halo_**

**The colonization of the **Inner colonies** is fully underway. There are 210 **Human**-occupied worlds in various stages of terraforming, and the population burden across human-controlled space is largely stabilized.**

**_1980 CE_**

Aria T'Loak assumes control of Omega after defeating the space station's previous warlord in single combat. She mockingly bestows the title "Patriarch" on the broken krogan, and uses him as a reminder to her enemies of her power.

**_2000 CE_**

The drell make first contact with the hanar around this time. With their homeworld Rakhana severely depleted and no spaceflight capability, the drell were poised for a massive population crash by 2025 CE. Agreeing to help, the hanar mount a large-scale rescue operation and evacuate approximately 375,000 drell to their own homeworld, Kahje, over the following decade. The remaining 11 billion drell on Rakhana gradually perish, warring over the last reserves of food and water.

**_2037 CE/2462 Halo_**

**The **Unggoy Rebellion** occurs. After much conflict in the **Covenant**, an **Arbiter** is sent in to end the rebellion. It's conclusion marks the beginning of the **23rd Age of Doubt** and the ascension of the **High Prophets** of **Tolerance** and **Restraint** and the **High Prophetess of Obligation

**_2043 CE/2468 Halo_**

**The planet of **Harvest** is established as the 17th **Human** colony, the **UNSC _Skidbladnir_** transporting the first colonists. The ship, under the guidance of the **AI Loki**, remains in the system to keep an eye on the establishment of infrastructure.**

**_2063 CE/2488 Halo_**

**By 2488, **Harvest** had the highest agricultural productivity rate per capita of any **UNSC** colony. Harvest is the most productive planet in the UNSC, producing fruits and other crops.**

**_2065 CE/2490 Halo_**

Human** space encompasses more than 800 worlds throughout the Orion Arm of the **Milky Way galaxy** (ranging from fairly well-tamed planetary strongholds to tiny hinterland settlements). Outward expansion continued, and the **Inner colonies** become a political and economic stronghold, though they rely heavily on raw materials supplied by the **Outer colonies**. During this period, the planet **Reach** (orbiting **Epsilon Eridani**, right on **Earth**'s metaphorical doorstep) becomes the **UNSC**'s primary Naval yard and training academy. Reach is a major producer of warships and colony vessels, as well as a training ground for covert operatives and Special Forces.**

**_2066 CE/2491 Halo_**

**Onyx is discovered and the Assembly recommends it be removed from the list of colonization candidates.**

**_2067 CE/2492 Halo_**

**A very large rebellion occurs on the colony world **Far Isle**, with the **UNSC** unable to control it. A Code: **Bandersnatch** is thus declared, nuclear weapons being used to put down the rebellion.**

**The **Covenant** stumbles upon **Doisac**, the **Jiralhanae** homeworld. The Jiralhanae were just beginning to recover after warring themselves back into a pre-industrial state, and were quickly forced into submission by the Covenant's superior forces, making them the final species absorbed into the alliance.**

**_2069 CE/2494 Halo_**

**The first **Rebel insurrection** in the **Eridanus system** begins.**

**March 2: Three **UNSC destroyers** confront the insurgent-controlled **UNSC _Callisto_** in the **26 Draconis System** at the culmination of the **_Callisto_ Incident**. It is effectively the beginning of the **Insurrection**.**

**_2071 CE /2496 Halo_**

**The **Eridanus Insurrection** is defeated by **UNSC** forces at the cost of four **destroyers**. Still, this is considered a monumental victory for the rebels, as most of their forces were still active.**

**_2077 CE / 2502 Halo_**

Liara T'Soni is born.

**March 13: **Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE** takes place on **Harvest**. The operation involved the assassination of **Jerald Mulkey Ander**, the leader of the **Secessionist Union** by **Avery Junior Johnson**.**

**May: The **UNSC _Gorgon_** is damaged in the **Skirmish at Capella** with **Insurrectionist** forces, resulting in the deaths of 32 crew members and requiring her to be laid up in space dock for one month for repairs.**

**November 9: **Preston Cole** writes to his brother **Michael**, informing him that he has married **Lyrenne Castilla

**_2079 /2504 Halo_**

**A **battle** takes place in the **Theta Ursae Majoris System** between the **UNSC** and the **Insurrectionists**.**

**UNSC Battle Group Tango after-action report states the Bellicose was pulled into the gravity well of a gas giant and lost with all hands.**

**_2092 CE/2517 Halo_**

**A very important year for the **United Nations Space Command**, as this marked the initiation of the **SPARTAN-II** program, which would eventually give birth to some of **humanity**'s greatest heroes.**

**_2100 CE/2525 Halo_**

**Humanity comes into contact with the Covenant**

**The **Ninth Age of Reclamation** begins with the ascension of the **High Prophets** of **Truth**; **Mercy** and **Regret**. They declare that the Human race destroyed a vast **Forerunner** reliquary and are therefore to be exterminated, starting the **Human-Covenant war**.**

_**2101 CE/ 2526 Halo**_

Biko and Bliss** are **glassed** by the **Covenant** sometime during this year**

**Circinius IV is glassed by the Covenant.**

**_2103 CE/2528 Halo_**

**The Assembly Minority decides to sacrifice remote, low-population colonies in order to determine the Covenant's pattern of operation and plan effective countermeasures based on it**

**Madrigal is glassed by the Covenant.  
Battle of XI Boötis A takes place. A UNSC victory.**

**2105 CE / 2530 Halo**

**Eridanus II is glassed by the Covenant.**

**_2106 CE/2531 Halo_**

**The **final battle** of the **Harvest Campaign** is won in space: **Preston Cole**'s fleet engages the alien warships that have again returned to the **Harvest** colony. Six years after the planet was attacked, **UNSC** forces emerged victorious at great cost.**

**The **UNSC _Spirit of Fire_** enters the **Epsilon Indi System** and arrives back at a glassed and partially frozen **Harvest**, encountering the remnant of Covenant troops led by an **Arbiter** that are in the process of uncovering a **Forerunnerrelic** on the planet.**

**February 4: **Captain James Cutter** of the **UNSC _Spirit of Fire_** makes an entry in his log, reflecting on the five years leading up to this point in the war against the Covenant.**

Serina** instructs that production of **M41 LAAG** weaponry cease on Harvest, **Warthogs** instead to be upgraded with the **M68 Gauss Cannon**. Not that it makes much difference as drivers continue to 'splatter' their Covenant enemies, much to the frustration of their maintenance teams.**

Ellen Anders** receives some unexpected readings on an EM band and asks a **Hornet** squadron en route to **Rally Point Baker** to investigate. They end up sighting a battalion of **Sangheili**. **SergeantJohn Forge** is assigned to **Quadrant 4** to investigate.**

**February 9: The ****_Spirit of Fire_**** arrives at the planet of **Arcadiaduring battle**, and meet up with the original members of **Red Team** and **their leader**.**

**February 23: **Battle of Shield 0459**. Medical officers aboard the ****_Spirit of Fire_**** mistake the **Flood** as a virus.**

**February 25: ****_Spirit of Fire_**** escapes **Shield 0459** thanks to the sacrifice of **John Forge**.**

**Cole is promoted to **Admiral** upon his return to **Earth** and learns that a number of outlying colonies have been destroyed, leaving behind almost no survivors. He begins to move his fleet around, trying to intercept the invaders. Ground and ship-to-ship battles begin in earnest, raging throughout the **Outer colonies**.**

**Colonel Ackerson is given the green light for his SPARTAN-III project.  
Kurt is briefed on training the next generation of Spartans and is promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade.**

**_2110 CE/2535 Halo_**

**2535 was a turning point in the **Human-Covenant war**. With the destruction of **Jericho VII**, most major **Outer colonies** had been destroyed. In order to protect Earth and the remaining colonies, the **Cole Protocol** was established by military order. Human ships must, when forced to withdraw, not move on to a colony-bound vector, even if that means jumping without proper navigational calculations. If blind jumps are not possible, the ship's **Captain** must order a self-destruction sequence if capture is imminent. In addition, it is also imperative that the powerful ship **AI** data cores not fall into Covenant hands, so part of this protocol involves either the removal or destruction of the ship's A.I. in extreme situations. Additionally, no captured Covenant ships or technology may be brought back to a human planet without being checked extensively for surveillance devices.**

**Charybdis IX is glassed by the Covenant.  
Jericho VII is glassed by the Covenant.**

_**2112 CE/2537 Halo**_

**Two colonies in the Leonis Minoris system are glassed by the Covenant.**

**Kurt-051 learns the fate of Alpha company. Beta company is given the green light.**

**_2114 CE/2539 Halo_**

Kholo** is **glassed**.**

**Citadel forces skirmished with Batarian forces on the planet Enael; the Citadel council (mainly the Salarians and Turians) refuse to look the other way and mount a counter offensive, the situation is once again defused by the Asari.**

**Turian patrols are updated with a disable on sigh order on any confirmed Batarian slaver ship, patrols are doubled, and relays with connection to Batarian space suffer and increase in Citadel defense fleets.**

**The Batarian hegemony decides to control their forces to avoid all scale war, yet their criminal activities are not reduced just better executed.**

**_2118 CE/2543 Halo_**

**March 6: The **Battle of 18 Scorpii** takes place. UNSC forces are saved by **Insurrectionists**.**

**March 9: **Vice Admiral Preston Cole** contacts **Admiral Dale Kilkin** at UNSC **Central Command Reach** Logistics Office requesting a series of requisitions, transfers and favors.**

**April 18: The **Battle of Psi Serpentis**, later known as **Admiral Cole's Last Stand**, takes place.**

**July 28: A day of mourning is proclaimed by the UNSC following the apparent death of Admiral Cole.**

**Classified**

**Codename: SURGEON determined that Admiral Cole almost certainly faked his death at the Battle of Psi Serpentis and survived by executing the second ever in-atmosphere slipspace transition. Evidence suggests that Cole somehow contacted or was contacted by Lyra Castilla before the battle and orchestrated the insurgent participation in the battle. In all likelihood, after faking his death, he rejoined Lyra and settled somewhere outside of both UNSC and Covenant-controlled space.**

**_2119 CE/2544 Halo_**

**Miridem is glassed by the Covenant.**

_**2120 CE / 2545 Halo**_

**Actium is glassed by the Covenant.**

**_2121 CE/2546 Halo_**

**_New Llanelli is glassed by the Covenant.  
Sargasso is glassed by the Covenant._**

**_2122 CE/2547 Halo_**

**May 21:**ONI Section Two** publicly unveils the **SPARTAN-II Program** in order to boost morale during the **Human-Covenant war**. Because each super solider is said to have killed thousands of **Covenant** troops, many consider the SPARTANs to be the "stuff" of legend, unless having encountered one. ONI Directive 930 also prevented any news of a SPARTAN's death to be released to the public. The existence of the **SPARTAN-III program** remains confidential**

**Sometime during this year, the **SPARTAN-II Program** was announced to the public, and any Spartan who dies is to be listed as ether **MIA** or **WIA**, to give the illusion that Spartans never die in accordance with the **Office of Naval Intelligence Directive 930**.**

**The colony **Skopje** is **attacked** and subsequently **glassed** by Covenant forces.**

**_2123 CE/2548 Halo_**

Verent** is glassed by the **Covenant**.**

**_2124 CE/2549 Halo_**

Paris IV** is **attacked** and glassed.**

**September 9: **Second Battle of Arcadia**. The Covenant **glasses Arcadia**.**

**November 7: **Cortana** is created from Dr. **Catherine Halsey**'s **flash-cloned** brain.**

**_2125 CE / 2550 Halo_**

**The **_Halcyon_-class light cruiser UNSC _Pillar of Autumn_** is refitted to serve near the **Zeta Doradus** system.**

The yahg, an intelligent pre-spaceflight race, are discovered on the planet Parnack. Ambassadors representing the Citadel Council arrive on the planet and attempt to open diplomatic contact. After the ambassadors are killed by the predatory yahg, the Council ceases all contact with the yahg and declares Parnack off-limits.

Not long after the yahg are discovered, one yahg is captured for the Shadow Broker to study. With the Broker's assistance, the yahg rapidly ascends within the Broker's organization as "Operative Kechlu". Eventually, the Broker becomes wary of "Operative Kechlu" and attempts to have him terminated, but the order is sent too late. The yahg assumes the mantle of the Shadow Broker and directs the organization.

**_2126 CE/ 2551 Halo_**

**The **Spartan-III**'s of **Gamma Company** undergo augmentations on the **UNSC _Hopeful_**.**

**_2127 CE/ 2552 Halo_**

Installation 03** is discovered by the **UNSC

Coral is glassed by the Covenant.  
New Jerusalem is glassed by the Covenant.

**2552 was the penultimate year in the **Human-Covenant war**, during which the **humans** of the **United Nations Space Command** nearly saw utter defeat and extinction.**

**The **Covenant** were at the peak of their power and reach in 2552, with major assaults on the Human **Inner colonies** and an invasion followed by a **prolonged engagement** on their home planet, **Earth**.**

**During the **battle** at **Installation 04**, the ominous **Flood** were released for the first time in over a hundred thousand years.**

**Over two months later, **Installation 05** was discovered, and the flood was released once more.**

**The battle for Onyx takes place at this time.**

**The war finally drew to a close at **Installation 00**, known more commonly as the "_Ark_", with the Humans and Sangheili attempting to assassinate the **Prophet of Truth**, before he could activate the remaining Halo Installations. The alliance was successful in their mission against the Covenant.**

**With the help of the **Sangheili**, the **UNSC** eventually won the Human-Covenant war**.

**December 25. UNSC Prowlers begin to explore the colonies that went Dark during the Covenant-Human war, most reports are grim, while others cause controversy as a few of the colonies show signs of rushed evacuation, it is unclear how those colonies were evacuated without the knowledge of the UNSC and more importantly who evacuated them.**

**_2128 CE/2553 Halo_**

**January 3. During investigation the UNSC discover trace amounts of element zero on the abandoned colony of Victoria, the UNSC research this previously unknown element.**

**January 5. ONI investigators arrive on Victoria.**

**January 15. ONI investigators discover a small cavernous formation with what appears to be Alien Technology of unknown make, ONI is not happy by the discovery as the cavernous formation appears to be looted of almost all technology.**

**January 22. UNSC discovers a small cache of Prothean technology hidden deep beneath the surface, other caches are found on the colony, but they are stripped bare, ONI concludes that the Technology fell in the hands of the Insurrectionist and they took most of it.**

**ONI diverts funds to research this new branch of technology.**

**January 22. Margaret Parangosky forms the black ops cell Kilo-Five, their objective to track the insurrectionist that have acquired the unknown Technology.**

January 26. Dr. Ruth Charet gives her inaugural address after her election as President of the Unified Earth Government.  
Jul 'Mdama attends a kaidon assembly to hear the Arbiter speak.

**January 27. Relon's keep on Sangheilios is attacked by The Servants of Abiding Truth, the keep holds the attack with many causalities on both sides Avu Med 'Telcam the leader of the Servants of Abiding Truth is killed by the keep defenders.**

February. Parangosky receives a message from the UNSC Glamorgam regarding a cyclically fluctuating anomoly 5,000km from the Onyx coordinates.

The Onyx survivors establish contact with Admiral Parangosky.  
**Terrence Hood visits Sanghelios to meet with Thel 'Vadam to formalize a peace treaty with the Sangheili.**  
The Onyx Survivors, with the help of a group of Huragok, bring the Dyson Sphere into real-space.  
Dr. Halsey is arrested by Serin Osman.  
ONI establishes research facility Trevelyan inside the Shield World.

March. Terrence Hood presides over a ceremony in Kenya to officially end the Human-Covenant war and pay homage to the fallen.  
Serin Osman is briefed by Black Box on Infinity about their latest findings in regards to the artifacts found in Victoria.  
Catherine Halsey is debriefed by Admiral Parangosky on UNSC Research Station Ivanoff.**  
Kilo-Five learns that Naomi-010's father is a member of the insurrectionist and could be their only lead to the events that happened in Victoria.**

**Kilo-Five corners Staffan Sentzke and just before he commits suicide, Naomi-010 stops him by revealing she is his daughter, initially Serin Osman is very displeased with this breach of ONI security, but the information obtained and the fact that Staffan Sentzke killed himself shortly after giving the information made her overlook it; Staffan Sentzke reveals that an insurrectionist fleet was evacuating outer colonies, the fleet had around 61 ships, one of them of unknown design that was over three kilometers long, the man tells the team to find Caleb F. Aagard if they want to know more as he was supposed to be the leader of the insurrectionist fleet.**

**The report states that the man gave this information to the team as a sort of belated birthday present to Naomi, and recommends Naomi-010 to receive psychiatric evaluation.**

The Brutes in Ontom fight back against the Elites.

During the attack on Ontom the servants of abiding Truth begin their assault on Vadam.

Infinity arrives at Sangheilios to provide support to the Arbiter.

Infinity provides support to the Arbiter by defending Vadam from The Servants of Abiding Truth.

Both the forces of the Jiralhanae and the Servants of Abiding Truth are destroyed in the subsequent battle

Serin Osman is promoted to Rear Admiral.

**ONI section one investigates Caleb F. Aagard and finds no information beyond the reports of his disappearance in 2517 submitted by his parents in the UNSC main office in the Luyten 726-8 system, the investigation is quickly taken over by ONI section zero.**

**_2129 CE/ 2554 Halo_**

**ONI section zero submits a report following the investigation regarding Caleb F. Aagard, the report states that the SPARTAN II code Caleb-095 was never recruited by any of the cells of section three, or any other secret UNSC project, and the failure to recruit him into the SPARTAN II program is indeed real and not a cover op, this raises several alarms inside ONI as it appears that the SPARTAN II candidate 095 had been recruited by the Insurrectionist.**

**Follow up investigations reveal little more about the supposed insurrectionist fleet as no other operatives can be found to be questioned.**

**_2131 CE/ 2556 Halo_**

**A musical event, **_Believe_**, takes place at the **UNSC Symphony Hall** at 1900 hours, and performed by the UNSC's own **Symphony Orchestra**. It is centered on remembering **Master Chief Petty OfficerJohn-117** and his service to the **UNSC**.**

**On board the **_UNSC Forward Unto Dawn_**, **Cortana**, showing clear signs of **Rampancy**, files a report on the history of the **Forerunners** and **Humanity

**The UNSC Infinity is commissioned into service.**

**December. The _UNSC Forward Unto Dawn_ is intercepted by a battle group of UNSC ships, the battle group has four Charon-class light frigates**

**Start of the first part of the Fic.**


	2. Chapter 1:Adrift in the void

Halo is owned by 343 studios (and their souls are owned by something small and soft)

Mass Effect is owned by Bioware (and their souls are owned by something that loves to bathe in pennies)

**Author Notes**: Beta reader needed to hammer those pesky typos and ultra long paragraphs that never end.

Luckiswithyouall: First contact happened a while ago. Hehe and if you mean First contact between Humans/Covies and the Citadel races, then that is going to happen sooner rather than later, but probably not in the way you expect (I hope, I really don't want to be predictable this early).

Alec McDowell: We know a few things, and can theorize others, on another note ONI did try to screw the Arbiter by helping the servants of abiding truth, but their involvement was more limited because their link to the servants was cut early, so things didn't get as crazy as canon.

WolfassassinKing: With is one of the things that make no sense.

I can use some mental exercises and chalk those low numbers to the Rahni war and the Krogan rebellions (Both wars destroyed Garden worlds); but they are still far too low for races that have been around for thousands of years so I REALLY want to do something about that, even if all comes down to tactical data of the amount of deads caused by the Rahni.

**Military Calendar December 17 2556**

Great Schism

Beginning: October 20th 2552

Status: Ongoing skirmishes/Perpetual War.

Covenant Loyalists/Covenant Separatists

Favored: Covenant Separatist.

**Sangheili Civil War**

Beginning: March 2553

Status: Ongoing.

Servants of Abiding Truth/Arbiter Loyalists

Favored: Arbiter Loyalist.

**Human Insurrection**

Beginning 2494

Status: Hostile Relations

UNSC/URF

Favored: UNSC

-.-.-.-.-.-

_"We own the insurrection our survival as a species. Without the insurrection humankind would have been wildly unprepared for the Great War, and our defeat would have been assured."_

Unknown ONI operative.

Chapter 1: Adrift in the void. Part 1: When enemies become friends.

The image was clear to the Battle Group Seven-Eleven; several ship parts were floating in space in a tight group, the biggest one of the parts was the aft section of a Frigate, and the name was also very clear 'UNSC Forward Unto Dawn'. The crew could scarcely believe it, and with reason, after all the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn was the name of a legendary Charon-class light frigate. The name of the last ship to cross the portal to earth before its collapse, the ship that marked the end of a brutal war, well half of a ship, and lo and behold here was the other half.

The sense of awe had to be interrupted, they had an important mission and lives could be on the line. The Admiral had sent them to investigate the signal, rescue survivors and then regroup with the fleet.

"Ensign Lowell, inform Lieutenant Petrosky that I want him and twenty of our best in that ship and tell them to take the non-lethal approach if they do find anyone alive."

"Yes sir."

**Later inside the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn**

Lieutenant Petrosky couldn't honestly believe his orders. Finding the more stable parts of the ship to anchor to avoid doing more damage during the salvage operation, that was standard protocol. Looking for survivors, also standard protocol. Not being able to use any kind of force on half a ton of super soldier, that wasn't standard protocol and as if to give voice to his own misgivings about the parameters of this mission one of the poor souls under his command opened his mouth.

"Sir, have you ever met one?"

"You'll have to be more specific than that Junior"

"A SPARTAN, I mean"

"No, I have never met one."

Soon enough both men fell into silence, a silence that extended for little over a minute until another of the poor souls under his command addressed him.

"Sir I am inside the system"

"Good job Peralta, what can you tell me"

"Well sir, the ship is a wreck"

Nervous laughter filled the observation deck of the ship. Everyone appreciated Peralta sense of humor, and it certainly did wonders to alleviate their nerves, but they had to be professional.

"Very funny Peralta, now tell me what we want to know"

His tone was stern, as much as he appreciated the joke they had a job to do.

"Sir, Weapon systems are online a few of the Hyperion Missiles can be salvaged, also the aft armory survived and so did the garage"

"Good what else can you tell me"

"Sir, as we expected we aren't alone. One of the cryo tubes was opened two minutes ago"

_'Well, nothing we can do about that now'_

"Everyone, high priority target alpha is on the move get ready to meet a very big guy"

"How big sir?"

That was Martinez the youngest member of his ragtag special infiltration team.

"Over seven feet"

He could see several smiles crack, but he had to tell them now, or risk one of them shooting their target by mistake later on.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Five minutes earlier**

"Mayday Mayday Mayday- this is UNSC FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard- prioritization code Victor zero five dash three dash Sierra one one seven."

The message kept echoing in the derelict ship. Most consoles were covered in ice and in standby mode to save energy for the one system that couldn't fail the cryoroom; where the only survivor of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn remained in cryo sleep.

The cryoroom was very dark with only a bright blue light visible at the far end of the room. The light source was nothing more than a sphere of blue light on an AI pedestal, soon the sphere of blue light disappears, replaced by a female figure sitting down on top of the pedestal. The figure of the AI Cortana.

Cortana gasps and looks around. She stands up. A hologram panel appears in front of her, with the words "UNSC Forward Unto Dawn" visible on the top left.

She starts moving things around.

"Unauthorized entry on system".

Cortana begins searching desperately, shaking her head.

'No sensors'.

'Systems at 7 percent'

'Unauthorized entry on Observation Deck'

She then brings up the cryostasis control page. One of the sections shows John-117's MJOLNIR armor. Cortana presses the command to reactivate. The status update with the red words "ACTIVE" comes up. She closes her eyes and turns to the Chief's cryotube.

"Wake up, Chief"

The frost covering its glass surface thaws, to reveal John-117 in his armor.

"Ungh…"

"Chief! Easy. You've been out for a while."

"Where are we?"

"We're still adrift on the Dawn."

The Chief starts to move his hands and fingers to regain his motor function.

"Why did you wake me?"

"Someone is accessing the Dawn from the observation deck"

"Someone?"

"I don't have sensors Chief, I could barely detect the intrusion.

Hang on. Bringing your systems online now."

"Something seems different"

"I rewrote your suit's firmware while you were out."

"You've been busy."

"Activating the ships's gravity generators."

The drifting crates and debris in the room drop on the floor.

"Partial system restoration. Initializing system diagnostics"

Cortana flickers a few times.

"Chief, look up. You need to pull the manual release."

John looks up and pulls the cryo-tube's manual release lever. The cryo-tube opens and John steps out and walks over to the Holotank that Cortana is occupying, she appears worried.

"Chief, whoever they are, they know we are here"

"Could it be a rescue team?"

"Whatever they are; they are definitely not UNSC"

"Ready to get back to work?"

Cortana crosses her arms.

"I thought you'd never ask."

John pulls Cortana out of the holo-tank and inserts it into his neural interface. And starts to arm himself with the weapons at his disposal, a MA5D assault rifle and a M6G pistol.

_"Chief, we've got intrusion alerts lighting up on multiple decks; but I detect an anomaly in the system, so the ship internal sensors are no longer reliable._

_Our best bet to figure out who's boarding us is the observation deck. The place where the unauthorized entry occurred - four floors up."_

The ship shakes violently.

"Cortana?"

_"No sensors Chief"_

John enters a room with a holo-table displaying a hologram of Forward Unto Dawn, he ignores it as he continues towards the Observation Deck.

"How long was I out?"

_"Four years, and six days."_

"Somebody should have found us by now."

John enters a circular room with a center console displaying a holographic replication of the Dawn's predicted drift course.

"How close are we to the observation deck?"

_"It's directly above us."_

John leaves the circular room and leads into another rectangular room with an elevator.

_"The elevator doors look sealed tight." _

John approaches the elevator doors and pries them open with his bare hands.

_"Chief, be careful!" _

John successfully gets through the elevator doors. The elevator shaft has been depressurized causing a few crates to hit John from outside the elevator shaft. He grabs the side of the elevator shaft, avoiding falling debris from the top of the shaft, while slowly climbing the shaft to reach the next level.

_"Because some areas might have lost pressure!" _

"Right."

John climbs a few feet. Debris falls from the top of the shaft and he is forced to act fast.

_"Chief, watch out!"_

John-117 jumps to the left, managing to avoid the falling debris.

_"I didn't realize the ship had deteriorated so badly."_

John manages to climb to the top of the shaft, avoiding falling debris. The door to the next level is conveniently open and after stepping into the next level at the top of the shaft. The shaft's door locks behind him.

"..."

"..."

There was someone by the door controls, a Human in a standard Black Body Suit.

_"So our unidentified boarders are humans"_

_"Cortana my motion sensor shows him as a hostile contact"_

_"Strange he has no transponder, that would mean he has no Neural-_

"Greetings. Am I to assume you are Sierra one one seven, commonly known as SPARTAN one one seven?"

John didn't answer.

"The distress signal mentions survivors on board and your- Oh right"

John tensed ready to act as the unidentified man moved his hand and placed it behind his head to scratch it... Such unprofessional behavior screamed civilian, but what was a civilian doing with a Black Body Suit?

"Sorry about that, I am Gustavo Aguilar, crew security of the ship 'Wild Coyote', we detected your distress signal and moved to assist"

Neither John nor Cortana were caught by the ruse, many things didn't add up.

"State your mission and what you are doing in this sector of space"

The young man inside the Black Body Suit seemed to tense a little.

"As I said earlier, I am part of the security detail of the ship 'Wild Coyote', you must know I am not part of the standard UNSC military, but we do possess some military grade equipment thanks to our job as security"

He paused as if expecting a comment, getting none he decided to explain in detail.

"We salvage ships that appear to be dead in space and that is usually dangerous business."

John had another thing to say.

"Dangerous and Illegal for non military personel"

The boy seemed to tense even more.

Silence befell on the Hallway, but inside the armor the situation was very different.

_"Cortana"_

_"Many things can change in four years chief; we don't know the current state of the UNSC"_

"The lack of Neural links marks you as a civilian. Why is a civilian acting as security for a ship."

"Well... I... Don't..."

"Where is your commanding officer?"

"H-he is coordinating the operation in the Observation Deck."

"

"What are you waiting for?"

"Sir, may I shake your hand?"

"Why?"

"I won't get another chance sir. I am probably going to be under arrest for a while after this, sir"

_"Seems like you have a fan Chief" _

_"Cortana"_

John took his time to consider the odd request, and decided to comply. No reason to antagonize what could be his only way back home.

"Fine"

"Really!? That's awesome!"

"Cut the crap, Aguilar!"

A new voice joined their conversation causing mild surprise to the Chief as the owner stepped out of the Observation Deck without leaving a trace in his motion sensors. The new person also had a Black Body Suit, but his appeared to be a heavily modified one.

"You are risking our mission for a hand shake. You will be lucky if all you get is arrested"

The new man turned towards the Chief

"SPARTAN one one seven, I presume"

The chief answered with a subtle nod.

"I am the leader of the boarding team. Lieutenant Petrosky of the Ship 'Wild Coyote'."

The man seemed to sigh inside his armor as if getting ready to do or say something unpleasant.

"I will be straight with you SPARTAN, if you promise to listen to my history in its entirely"

_"The whole history? Chief I don't think they are mere hired muscle."_

"I'll listen"

"Very well, we are part of the colonial defense first fleet. Former United Revel Front forces"

The youngest of the three was visibly shaking, but Lieutenant Petrosky just ignored him and continued.

"Our mission was to investigate a Forerunner world that is located at a stone throw distance of our present location"

That got the attention of the SPARTAN and his AI.

"The world opened somekind of massive hatch and dragged seven of our ships that were inside its event horizon. Sadly communications were cut and we don't know their present status. Another four ships went inside the planet to try a rescue operation, but contact was lost with them as well"

"Hostile forces?"

"Unknown"

Silence

"That would explain why you are in this sector of space, but not why you boarded the Dawn"

"Is fairly simple. UNSC and former insurrection forces are no longer in hostile confrontation. We picked your emergency transmission and while having problems of our own, decided to assist in hopes you would assist us as well."

John was skeptical about their true intentions, but many things could be at risk. John quickly remembered his encounters with the Flood and how quickly things could go out of control if left unchecked.

"We need someone capable of ground operations behind enemy lines because our ground troops are for a lack of better term inexperienced. Our leader figured it would be in our best interest to request the cooperation of a veteran and hero of the Great War."

_"His leader is pretty smart"._

"Also we are more than willing to give you a ride home. So there is no need to kill us and hijack one of our vessels to do it".

_"..."_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Later**

The bridge of the 'Wild Coyote' was in many ways similar to any other UNSC Stalwart-class frigate, but a trained eye could easily catch the glimpses of civilian behavior on the crew. John could even see a few of the officers playing some sort of puzzle game on their consoles.

John could see the image of four frigates on one of the consoles with the words Battle Group Seven Eleven. The formation had three Stalwart-class frigates and a Paris-class frigate.

"SPARTAN, I am glad you have agreed to help us."

That was the captain of the vessel a somewhat unimpressive man of medium build, that could be over fourty.

"I agreed to save human lives."

Only a deaf person would miss the undertone of John voice.

"Oh. I see"

Any future confrontation was stopped by the opportune intervention of Ensign Lowell.

"Ten seconds to exit slipspace.

Five, four, three, two, one."

John was a hardened soldier and veteran, few things could surprise the SPARTAN and clearly the sight of the small fleet or the Forerunner planet didn't.

_"Cortana what can you tell me"_

_"Chief, I can see their 'fleet' has almost twenty Corvettes, most of them Mako-class. With the addition of the four frigates in this battle group their frigate count goes to seven. They also appear to have modified Parabola and Laden class freighters."_

_"So no heavy hitters."_

_"I wouldn't say that, there is also a single destroyer and believe it or not they seem to have a covenant corvette"_

_"Nothing that the UNSC can't handle"_

_"Their threat level appears to be moderate at best, yes."_

Their internal chat was interrupted by the communications officer.

"Sir, incoming transmission from the Destroyer Red Bull. Captain Dominic is hailing us."

"Patch it through"

No one in the bridge dared to make a sound as an imposing black man, with gray hair appeared on the Holo screen.

"Captain Steven Gil, I see your mission was a success."

The man in the screen was focusing on John as he said this.

"That indeed James. I-

"Then let's not waste time, the lives of our people are at risk"

The man glanced at the captain of the Wild Coyote for just a second only to once again focus on John

"SPARTAN. I believe the Captain explained the situation to you."

"Not entirely."

"Then let's get you up to speed. Seven of our ships were initially lost when the Planet opened up; a few suffered catastrophic damage as they crashed with each other as a result of their desperate maneuvers to escape the pull of the planet.

Four more of our ships intentionally dived towards the planet to attempt to rescue as many of our men as possible. Initially no contact could be made with either group of ships, however that changed one hundred minutes ago, when we received a short burst of data in the form of broken audio and video message with a ghost signal of looped Morse code and binary."

"Why binary?"

"The message explains that some sort of Forerunner communication relay is intercepting and disrupting our communications. They circumvented this by sending a ghost signal inside the original message. The details are not important as the only thing that matters is that the message managed to reach us."

Both Cortana and John were somewhat impressed by the former insurrection forces and their capabilities to adapt.

"Our men tried to tap into the system of the Forerunners to locate and disable the relay. Success was easy on the former, is the later that is proving to be most difficult. It has to be disabled manually and hostiles prevent any approach onto the object."

"Any clue about hostiles?"

"Only that they appear to be humanoid constructs, and use advanced Direct Energy Weaponry and shielding."

There was a long pause.

"They are either advanced Forerunner combat platforms or Forerunner themselves; evidence is inconclusive on this regard."

"So what do you want from us?"

Everyone in the bridge seemed to be surprised at the intrusion of the unexpected female voice.

"I see you have an AI with you SPARTAN. That can only be a good thing. To answer the question. We will launch an assault on this 'communications' relay and turn it off, then find a way to get our men off world."

"So you want us to spearhead the operation?"

The older black man smiled, and it was such unpleasant smile.

"No. I want you to be a symbol; everything else is just a bonus."

The man known as Captain James Dominic of the Destroyer Red Bull continued to explain the situation and issue orders clearly used to command. **Meanwhile**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Planetside** things had been going well for the former insurrection forces. Aside the debacle of the 'hard' landing of the seven ships on the planet 'surface' and the following discovery of the compromised communications to the rest of the fleet, everything else had gone well.

The four ships that followed the downed ships had no problems to reach ground zero, and after a few days of restless work two of the seven ships were now capable of flight. Sadly of the seven ships four could never fly again and most of its crew were lost with all hands.

The bridge of the Destroyer Frenzied Ox was bustling with activity.

"Sir we have the coordinates to the gravity well, and most of the task forces on the planet status is green."

"All but one."

"Sir may I ask why the admiral went personally to the core of the planet? We are losing men by the dozens."

"Do not question your orders; the Admiral knows what he is doing."

His gaze burned all the officers on his bridge and one by one they lowered their heads in acceptance. Yes he knew the mission to the core had so far taken hundreds of lives, but whatever was in the core of the planet was way more than a simple communications relay.

"Men. The relay must be very important, otherwise the Admiral wouldn't be trying so hard to reach it, and that is a fact."

"Sir. Incoming message from the Light Cruiser Adasaurus."

"What does it say?."

"Still decoding the message sir, but it appears that the mission was a success."

'Objective Alpha has been accomplished then. Our standing orders are to rendezvous with the CRS-class light cruiser Tiburon and the Heavy Cruiser Carnotaurus to get ready to push our way off planet to join the main fleet as soon as possible'

"Ensign Richards what are the status of the remaining Objectives"

"No progress on the core and we lost contact with the Admiral twelve minutes ago. On the other hand the first defense around our exit vector is about to be engaged."

"Very well. Start packing we are leaving-

"Sir. Are we going to abandon the Admiral?."

His XO was almost distraught and so was the rest of the bridge, in a way all of them owned their lives to the Admiral.

"We are going to follow his orders to the letter as we should."

He paused for a moment and then continued.

"The Heavy cruiser Carnotaurus will move to rescue the Admiral as soon as our exit vector is cleared. The rest of us have our own parameters to follow."

Slowly the bridge of the Destroyer began to relay the orders of its captain in several simple forms of communication, not knowing that the relay had just stopped its interference.

-.-.-.-.-.-

**"So fades the great harvest of my betrayal."**

"..."

**"The Librarian left little to chance, didn't she? Turning my own guardians – my own world – against me. But what hubris… to believe she could protect her pets from me forever."**

"..."

**"So you know about me, surely confidence born out of arrogance."**

"..."

**"Known your place human, the Mantle belongs to the Forerunners. Time was your ally, Human, but now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners… have returned." **

**"This tomb… is now-**

**Part 2: The essence of trust.**

**Military Calendar December 18 2556**  
**Sanghelios Vadam Keep**

"Arbiter. We have substantial evidence of human intervention in our war with the servants of abiding truth."  
The Sangheili smashed his hands on his console.  
"We must do something."  
"Let's not be hasty. We only know that some humans are helping our enemies, nothing more."  
"And yet we do nothing!"

Murmurs of agreement spread on the assembly, it was clear that something had to be done about the humans and their meddling.  
"One could say that humans are not doing enough."

The whole assembly was silenced by that single statement. Outrage and shock were the most visible emotions of many of the Sangheili, the rest remained stoic and impassive.

The Arbiter focused his gaze on the one that had made that statement and was surprised to find a member of the order of Ascetic. Intrigued he made a gesture to allow the Ascetic to continue.  
"My name is Rha 'Chonai and I ask of you to consider my words."  
He paused for a few seconds to gaze upon the assembled Kaidons and then continued.  
"Over Twenty Three billion."

The Ascetic stopped to see if the rest of the Sangheili in the Assembly could understand the meaning behind his words. Many had yet to understand the meaning of the seemingly random amount, but many others had understood. 'Good.'

"Over twenty three billion humans dead in twenty seven human years of conflict. Over half of their total population lost."  
"Esteem Ascetic elder, it was a war-  
"And yet most of the dead weren't warriors. Many of you demand action against the humans for meddling in our own affairs, yet forget what we have done to them."  
Silence engulfed the assembly.

"Many of you lack perspective."  
Soha 'Potum Kaidon of the Potum keep would have none of that.  
"And what perspective would you have? You-  
Whatever he was going to say next was stopped. By the words of the Ascetic.

"I have the perspective of a warrior that has lost his honor. We killed their children, those that had yet to receive a name, and we did it gladly."  
His gaze burned with barely contained rage.  
"Could any of us claim to have enough restrain to not demand blood if such a huge offense had been done to us?"  
He sighed.

Thel 'Vadam was glad the Ascetic had intervened, he had spoken the words that he couldn't say himself and for that he was grateful.  
"And what is the perspective of the order, esteemed Warrior."

The assembly grew quiet and expectant, the Ascetic were a shadow of its former self, but their opinion had great value to the Sangheili, maybe they would have the solution to the current dilemma.  
"History has taught our people important lessons. Lessons that have almost been forgotten behind the curtain of lies of the San 'shyuum.  
Its time we remember those lessons."

**Council Year 2631, year 236 of the great journey.**

The Quarian Migrant fleet was the largest collection of space faring vessels in the know galaxy. A testament to Quarian perseverance in the face of adversity and unjust persecution. Persecution and punishment for a single transgression, for nothing more than an accident that in the end claimed most of the quarian population.

The Migrant fleet was the only thing the Quarians had left of their once great civilisation. They had become nomads wandering the stars till the moment they could reclaim their homeworld. For that reason the Quarians protected the fleet with fervor from external threats and the internal ones. But it was becoming clear that wasn't going to be enough.

The Quarian migrant fleet was losing the most aged ships and it was apparent that not even their incredible mechanical expertise would be enough to save all of them, Quarian experts knew something would have to be done otherwise the situation would reach the point of no return in less than a century and the Quarians and their plight would become nothing else than a footnote in the history of the council.

The admiralty board with the support of the conclave had done their best to address this situation, to endear young Quarians to seek valuable technology during their pilgrimage, and for all the Quarian people to poll all their resources to buy new ships for the good of their fleet. But in the end that would only give them a few more decades at best, something drastic had to be done, something that could change the destiny of all seventeen million Quarians in the migrant fleet. Something like the mission given to the Twelve Scout Flotilla in extreme secrecy.

The twelve scout flotilla, to most Quarians had left in a mission to locate a possible world to make a temporary mining colony. In truth they had left to investigate what appeared to be either a structure or an unusual formation of an asteroid belt next to a massive gas giant. Normally something that was inaccessible by normal relay travel that would require a dangerous trip that would take almost a year would be left unchecked, cataloged as a curious thing by most species. But not the Quarians. Two centuries traveling the stars had taught them many things, and one of those was to recognize an opportunity.

Quarians were desperate enough to risk a few ships to investigate this anomaly and their time as nomads had made them well suited to deal with the dangers of long range Faster than light travel.

The mission was dangerous. But the Captain chosen to lead the scout flotilla was one of their best Captains Fhe'Reager vas Relade, now promoted to Commodore of the twelve scout fleet was known to get results and handle himself admirably against terrible odds.

The ships under his command were but a mere dozen, a single cruiser, four frigates and the rest mere cargo vessels of with three had been modified to work as research ships. It was an oddity for Quarians to use cargo vessels as true cargo ships, but it was a necessity of the situation and the parameters of their mission.

The Admiralty board had taken a great risk by keeping the mission a secret, if the details of the mission were carelessly released to the public the conclave could request their resignation, but the Commodore Fhe'Reager vas Relade knew why it had to be a secret, if the citadel council were to learn what they had discovered... No he couldn't think about that, he had to focus in the hypothetical Geth Colossus in the volus conference.

The bridge had been operating in silence for minutes watching the feed provided by the scout drones they had sent to the surface of the structure they had come to investigate.  
"Keelah. The structure is not only massive, but it has an atmosphere and bodies of water. Captain can we truly consider this a space station?"

'Could they really?'

"I think the term Artificial world comes to mind, as impossible it may be."  
'He would have to agree with his communications officer, anything else would come short of what they were seeing'

The structure was shaped as a ring, in what could only be considered a ring world. The purpose of such a structure still eluded them, but a few hypothesis had been raised from the research teams under his command.

"Dia what can the scout drone sensors tell us about the structure?"  
"Captain the readings show the structure indeed has an atmosphere, but is not breathable."

"Not a problem for us."  
The bridge could hardly contain their laughter, their mission had been a success beyond their initial expectations.

"Lifesigns?"  
"A moment captain..."

Everyone stopped working martial discipline all but gone, lifesigns could mean many things, many good, but some bad. If the artificial world had lifesigns...

"How odd, it seems large areas are covered in some sort of fungus, and the air is overcharged with spores."  
"Very well, let's pick an area with no spores or at the least less density of them, we don't need to risk our operation with an infection. Tell the teams to triple check their seals and equip their suits with external air tanks, I don't want to rely in our filters with an unknown type of spores."  
"Yes, Sir."

As one the bridge began to work to disperse the orders, coming here had been dangerous, but that was only the beginning of their problems.  
Little did they know of what was waiting for them.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Council Year 2631,****Log 38**

The Citadel Council is the governing body of the Citadel. The Council acts as the **ultimate authority** in Citadel space, passing judgement for violations of Council law, settling disputes between governments, and maintaining law and order in citadel space.

For hundreds of years the council has ruled and settled thousands of situations some amicably and others with ruthless efficiency. From the bloody Rachni Wars and Krogan rebellions, to the tame mining rights dispute in the Minos Wasteland. However the new council has been unusually busy and burdened with the threat of a great war for the last few years. And to my surprise the threat has NOT come from the Geth.

To this day the Geth still remain in isolation behind the Perseus Veil, doing whatever synthetics without a purpose do, oh no, the threat of war has come from another cluster in a situation that is eerily similar to what happened with the Rachni. But to understand the present situation one has to look to the past to find an explanation.

You see decades ago a group of unlikely allies had lobbied to get the council to remove the restrictions about the reactivation of dormant relays, the debate was fierce, but a truth couldn't be denied and that was that the systems with easy and cheap access to inter-stellar travel had ran out. Council space was starting to get cramped and the terminus systems were too dangerous and lawless for the average civilian of council space. So the debate was won and carefully and methodologicaly each inactive relay in council space was activated in the company of the largest fleet the council could muster.

At first everything had gone well and all known relays in council space were oppened without complications, that is when the first mistake was made, the relay activation defense fleet was a gross expense and left too many holes in the patrols for the Batarian slavers to exploit and exploit they did.

A garden world now known as Turvess was discovered by the slavers and the indigenous species now known as the Raloi came under attack by them. It took months for the previous council to take notice of this situation and is common knowledge that was one of the reasons for their resignation. When the Turian fleet finally arrived to investigate, they had found a young race under ruthless attack doing what they could with what they had to defend themselves.

Plagued by introduced pathogens and a terrible introduction to the greater galaxy, the council could only do the right thing. The council revealed themselves to their new neighbours provided them with medical help and expertise and protected them from further attacks. And in response the Raloi joined the council as an associate member, and a client species of the Turians.

_Tevos sighed, massaged her forehead and continued writing in her omni tool._

That was the second mistake. With the support of the Volus and the Raloi, the Turians will in the future hold more power in the council than us and some situations will get out of our control. Just a few years ago the Turians almost declared war on the Batarians and I am afraid that IF the Batarians try to force their weight once again nothing will stop the Turians from dragging the council to a war that will cost million maybe billion of lives if the intelligence provided by STG is accurate.

The only saving grace to the present situation is that the new threat has united us. But I fear this situation is either war with our new neighbours from the Terminus, or war with the Batarian Hegemony and their criminal cartels. To this day I don't know with one is worse and the threat of both attacking at the same time is still very real.  
That brings us to the new threat and the last mistake of this chain of events. After the incident with the Raloi, the relay activation fleet was reduced greatly and most ships were returned to their patrol routes, yet still we kept activating new relays in the border of council space all the way to the terminus.

This inevitably lead to relay **three four seven** and the route to the Shrike Abyssal were the now reduced Relay activation fleet meet with heavy opposition. Survivors tell the history of a **huge** minefield that took a third of their forces and forced them into a killing field were apparently the enemy used their own ships to destroy most of the survivors. Its still unclear exactly how it was done, but the sensor data on the few survivors ships that returned back show WHAT was done. The enemy ships dropped off Faster than light speeds by collapsing their mass effect fields within the formation of the Relay Activation fleet, destroying ships on contact and showering the rest in huge amounts of radiation. In a matter of seconds the fleet was decimated to just a few ships, but the enemy was relentless and ruthless picking the survivors with long ranged mass accelerator shots. Only sheer luck and the protection of the goddess saved the few that managed to use the relay to escape.

It has been eight days after the event, and our fleet waits on the other side of the relay from an attack that may not come. Salarian STG is still trying to get a prove into the system to gather intelligence, but that has been as of yet an impossible endeavour.

_Tevos sighed once again, closed the message window and stalked her way to her bedroom._

Tomorrow was going to be a very difficult day. She was sure Matriarch Aethyta was going to propose something radical again, but this time she was willing to hear every word of it. After all it was a common adage for Asari, that all Matriarch's have to deal with at least one great war in their lifetime, and the galaxy has not failed to deliver time and time again, so it was either with the Batarians, the unidentified species that lived in the Shrike Abyssal, or with the Turians some years from now.

"No. I am wrong."

_Matriarch Tevos clapped her hands and her lights went off._

"Is either; The Batarian Hegemony, the unidentified species, The Geth, or the Turians."

_She looked to the holographic representation of the galaxy that she had next to her bed to remind her the importance of her job._

"Or a whole new threat from the half of the galaxy we know nothing about."

In the end nothing mattered, because she would do her best to ensure the safety of council space.

'Councilor Brutus needs to disappear, if we want the Turians off the war path and under control.'

And with thoughts that could get her killed if said out loud the Asari councilor went to sleep, hoping to dream with a safer galaxy.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Author Notes: Help me, Help you, Help everyone, by becoming my Beta Reader, you will get sneak peeks to the plot and will have conclusive evidence of how much of a tard I am.

If not...

I have a thread in the SB forum, so if you are a member be sure to hop there and criticize my work (I can take it), just remember English is kind of my third language turned second because I stopped using french a decade ago.

Peace!


End file.
